updated 04:40 pm EDT, Tue June 10, 2008

Steve Jobs health

Past concerns for the health of Apple CEO Steve Jobs are resurfacing after his demonstration of the iPhone onstage at the WWDC keynote, with a spokeswoman passing off his mince physique as a "common bug". The Wall Street Journal reports that, in addition to the new iPhone, bloggers and internet news sites are abuzz with talk of whether Jobs is in good health or not. Jobs recently suffered from pancreatic cancer, which was revealed after it was believed to have been treated.

Jobs is largely viewed as irreplaceable at Apple, due to his work with the company, that has since turned it from a minority computing platform, into a widespread electronics company with a constantly growing user base.

At the risk of sounding like a fanatic, I launched his MacWorld presentation in HD quicktime, right next to the one from yesterday (two 19" monitors, side by side). The man may have lost two pounds since January. He also lost a bit of facial hair - he has a 2-day beard, whereas in January he was sporting a 4-day stubble. Other than that, he looks exactly the same.

What does "mince physique" mean? I've never heard the phrase, can't figure it out from the context, and can't find anything in any dictionary definition of "mince" that gives a clue. Maybe some kind of regional dialect thing? Can someone help out here?

...as Vasic pointed out, there is little to no difference from his presentation in January - most people notice the difference from the PR photos floating around, that show a 'fuller' Jobs, and they assume the worst.

I don't know. His appearance and weight doesn't seem to have changed that much since January of this year, but if you compare this year to his keynote presentation in January 2007, he's definitely lost weight:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/42858400@N00/sets/72157605547771083/

Hopefully his weight loss is merely the result of a change in eating/diet/exercise/lifestyle habits, and not something scarier.

I don't know. His appearance and weight doesn't seem to have changed that much since January of this year, but if you compare this year to his keynote presentation in January 2007, he's definitely lost weight:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/42858400@N00/sets/72157605547771083/

Hopefully his weight loss is merely the result of a change in eating/diet/exercise/lifestyle habits, and not something scarier.

Until Jobs or Apple says otherwise, Jobs is entitled to a presumption of "innocence" = health! And we all should expect no less for and from ourselves!

Every time this kind of speculations came up, I wondered if it's someone trying to drive AAPL down sow that they can buy it for less? And think of how many people will be screwed so that a few could benefit!!!

Rumors are an ugly thing in general, but in case of Jobs, it could easily be a weapon for Stock manipulation! I doubt that Apple can do anything to dispel such rumors, and if they start on that road, it could be a bad thing!

But, even to assume the worst, and Jobs dies, like all of us, someday - I bet that by now Apple has a bunch of "disciples" in it that could run it post Jobs!

Sadly, none of us will live forever, including Steve Jobs! He was, and will always remain the Symbol for All Things Apple!

Its in the brain and he does not suffer from a brain cancer. People remember one of the US presidents suffered from skin cancer on the nose. Did he die of it. Nope.

Steve is doing good and he will continue to.

Remember death is the ultimate Karma and nothing can ever change it. Acceptance of the truth is the best way to live. Steve is the leader today but tomorrow it shall be someone else. Like a household is never broken up when the patriarch is gone the same way Apple Inc. shall continue. Steve alone does not make what we get to buy and use. He has a team and yes he is the able captain who shall be missed when he is gone.

I remember my first boss telling me "However good that you may be but you are not indispensable." Someday someone will replace Steve (like it or not) that is the fact.

To me Steve looked positively cachectic--heck you could even see prominent clavicles (collarbones) under his shirt. Sure, he could just be keeping himself rail thin, but I also wondered about the fact that he didn't do nearly as much of the demonstration as he usually does.

Now in my later 30s, over the past year, I returned to my old vegan/organic macrobiotic diet of my 20s. since then, i lost 35 unnecessary pounds and feel great. but, between the people telling me I look great, there are some who ask me, "are you ok?!" I would guess Steve's cancer scare moved him to reaffirm his stricter dietary habits, letting him unload any dead weight.

Seeing Jobs at the show, someone commented that he was sporting socks. Someone else laughed because they thought the comment meant that Jobs had stuffed his jeans with a sock. I pointed out that such an appearance was merely the result of the man being so incredibly gaunt. But that observation made me start to wonder about why Jobs kept leaving the stage during the presentation, rather than to just stand aside while others presented. To my recollection this is not something that he has done before. He actually "went behind the curtain" at least three times during the show for extended periods of time. Was he resting? Grabbing some oxygen? Or merely checking stock quotes? It's hard to know. But the weight loss and possibly lack of stamina are a concern.

If Jobs has any true love of Apple, he will start openly grooming a successor (or successors--can one normal human replace Steve Jobs?). This will be hard for him because it will require that he open up and relinquish growing amounts of control, which is something he quite simply is inept at doing. Without this though, a sudden loss of Steve Jobs has the potential to greatly damage Apple. That should give investors significant pause.